Welsh Women’s Aid is delighted that the First Minister, Carwyn Jones announced in his speech at the Labour Party Conference that Welsh Government will be ratifying the Istanbul Convention.
Welsh Women’s Aid has been calling for the implementation of the convention in Wales in line with the Welsh Governments competency areas as well as campaigning with sister organisations at a UK and European level for it to be ratified by the UK Government.
The delivery of the convention will ensure that all agencies in Wales recognise their obligations and take responsibility for fully addressing all forms of violence against women and girls and takes measures to protect survivors and hold perpetrators to account.
The Istanbul Convention has a set of minimum standards for tackling violence against women it expects a state to meet – by ratifying the convention, Wales is prepared to meet this challenge and lead the way in the UK working towards the elimination of this devastating crime.
In Wales we are already leading the way in working towards an end to violence against women, with the ground-breaking Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Act as well as the pledge by the First Minister to make Welsh Government a feminist government – but we still have a way to go in eradicating gender based violence and achieving gender equality – this can only be done by Welsh Government working alongside a fully funded, sustainable specialist violence against women sector. We look forward to continuing to work with Welsh Government and achieving this together.